The Patriot: Roland Emmerich Can't Fail

I really like Roland Emmerich. So much so that I'll try out a new way of review. I'm gonna review it in three parts: I'll review act I before watching act II, act II before act III, then the whole movie. Now let's hop in.


From the get go this is better than Braveheart. Our hero is Mel Gibson because I forgot his character's name. He runs a plantation with his family and black people who aren't slaves. In addition he refuses to vote pro war against Britain because he feels it'd be wrong since he won't fight. That is unrealistically nice for the 1770s, but Roland understands that if the movie won't question the righteousness of the character the audience shouldn't either. When the game changing death occurs it isn't some lady we bearly know getting her throat cut off-screen, but his son we know a bit about getting shot. On-screen. And dying in Mel Gibson's arms. Because that's a motivation. He does flip in the upcoming skirmish and butchers the last dude with a tomahawk. The trick is that the tone is shocked, not cheering, the music slows, things go quiet, his kids are disturbed, and he realizes it was excessive. That's enough for me not to think he's a completely psychotic maniac. But will this change? We'll see.


Another thing this has over Braveheart is the fact that the Americans die in action scenes, it's hard to buy a struggling war when you never lose. Brutality on both sides is shown and the tone always treats it as evil regardless of the side doing it. Eventually Mel's son Gabe convinces him to stop with the unnecessary bloodshed. When something is decided in this movie it sticks with it. It even shows that the British condemn the savage methods used by one of their rambunctious colonels. The Americans clearly depicted as the good guys, but I respect that the British get a fair shake.


Well dang. I knew Gabriel's girlfriend would die when they got married but I didn't think Rambunctious Colonel would lock her and others in church and burn it down! For the record, it was the villains that did this, because burning people alive is evil, and you can't really root for that. Gabriel catches up to Rambunctious Colonel while he's cosplaying as Samurai Cop. Rambunctious Colonel goes to town with his sword and ends up killing Gabe. When Mel finds him he has a minor stroke then cries. The final battle is quite terrific. Gibson and Rambunctious Colonel throw down, but unlike Lethal Weapon where there's guys just watching, the extras in the background are engaged in battle. Epic finishing line. America. Credits.


Great Characters
Both sides are 3 dimensional
Best cinematic musket gunplay
Portrays immoral actions as bad
Roland Emmerich morals


9/10 Flawless


It's the American Revolution directed by Roland Emmerich. That about sums it up.